'Behold, the Lord is indignant and wrathful and,
because you do not turn to Him, threatens. And you wonder or complain in
this your obstinacy and contempt, if the rain descends rarely from
above, if the earth lies neglected because of the accumulation of dust,
if the barren globe with difficulty produces feeble and pallid blades of
grass, if the destructive hail weakens the vines; if the overwhelming
whirlwind uproots the olive, if drought stanches the spring, if a breeze
spreading pestilence befouls the air, if deadly disease consumes
mankind, although all these things come because of the sins that provoke
them, and God is exasperated the more when such great evils avail
nothing. For the same God declares in holy Scriptures in these words
that these things occur either for discipline of the obstinate or for
the punishment of the devil: "In vain have I struck your children; they
have not received correction." And the prophet devoted and dedicated to
God replies to these same words and says: "Thou has struck them and they
have not grieved; thou hast bruised them and they have refused to
receive correction." Behold, blows are inflicted by God and there is no
fear of God. Behold stripes and scourgings from above are not lacking,
and there is no trembling, no alarm. What if even such censure did not
interfere with human affairs? How much greater still would the audacity
of men be, if it were secure in the impunity of its crimes?'
Proverbs 22:15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction shall drive it away.
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction shall drive it away.
